F. Scott Fitzgerald Full Name: Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald (Francis Scott Key was a distant cousin to Fitzgerald’s mother) F. Scott was born in St. Paul in 1896 to an upper middle class Catholic family
Family Roots Mother’s side: very tied to respectable Midwestern traditions -F. Scott’s mother inherited a good sum of money when her father died Father: the family wicker business owned by his father fails -Proctor and Gamble hires Edward (the dad) as a salesman- the family moves to Buffalo, then Syracuse, New York -the family is never very stable as they do not make much money and they move around a lot
Tradition The family had upper class traditions, but no money to support them Although F. Scott hung out with the rich kids, he never really felt like he fit in A lifelong devotion was made to achieve material and social success
School, Writing, and Women By 1910 F. Scott was publishing fiction in the school newspaper-he would continue at prep school and then at Princeton -Fitzgerald entered Princeton in While there, he continues to write for the newspaper and for himself. He meets a girl named Ginerva King, whom he falls for. -Throughout his time at Princeton, F. Scott fails to give appropriate effort causing his grades to fail.
Continuation of College In 1915, he temporarily withdrew from school due to illness At this time, his relationship with Ginerva began to diminish Ginerva belonged to the rich class of Chicago, thus making her unattainable In 1916, Fitzgerald returned to college (his Junior year) without the company of Ginerva-his writing shifted to poetry
A Romantic Desire for War In October of 1917, Fitzgerald leaves Princeton to join the U.S. Army He had a romantic desire for combat-as said by Nick throughout The Great Gatsby Instead of being stationed in Europe, he was stationed in Alabama (WWI ended in 1917) This was not his idea of an ideal placement
Zelda Sayre While in Camp Sheridan, near Montgomery, Fitzgerald meets Zelda Sayre at a dance Zelda is a much sought after girl who is of a wealth family in Alabama Immediately in LOVE, F.S. wants to marry, but she is unwilling because he cannot afford to support her
Pursuit of Love After his discharge in 1919, F. Scott set out to earn his bride as a writer in NYC- for eight long months he failed Fitzgerald moved back to St. Paul and reached success quickly. -Newspapers fought for his short stories.
Success at Last Zelda finally consented to be his wife in Apr Fitzgerald instantly reached fame, a wealthy status and obtained his dream girl F. Scott and Zelda have a baby, Frances “Scotty” Fitzgerald, on Oct
Fitzgerald with Zelda and Daughter, Scotty, in Paris apartment in 1926 After writing several books, the family moved to Paris, apparently for financial reasons -The Great Gatsby is published in 1925, but is not a success. Only of late has it become popular
A Split Relationship Zelda cheats on Fitzgerald with a French aviator Zelda and F. Scott both turn to alcohol and their lives start to fall apart Zelda falls ill to schizophrenia- F. Scott reverts to even more alcohol Fitzgerald tries to cure himself through the writing of essays
The End of a ‘Legacy’ F. Scott dies of a heart attack in December of 1940 After dying in a fire in 1948, Zelda is buried beside him
F. Scott Fitzgerald “A man of many dreams”
Published: 1925 Point of View: 1 st and 3 rd Tense: Past Setting (time) Summer 1922 Setting (place) Long Island and New York City Protagonist: Gatsby/and or Nick *Themes: The American Dream, The Spirit of the 1920’s, The difference between social classes, The role of the past in dreams of the future